Standing pat likely Tigers' best deadline option

DETROIT -- Of all teams, the one that denied the Detroit Tigers a world championship three years ago made the closest thing to a pre-deadline blockbuster trade this weekend just as half of Detroit's fan base demands the same and the other half preaches caution and patience.

Of those two arguments, the non-knee-jerk group has the stronger position, even if it wasn't bolstered much by the St. Louis Cardinals sending prospects and cash to Oakland for Matt Holliday, a left fielder who offers lineup protection for Albert Pujols, and whose four-hit debut can't soothe the Tigers' trade-now faction any.

Then, the same night, long-injured Carlos Guillen returned to the Tigers and blasted a fastball 20 rows up the right-field seats.

And long-suffering Magglio Ordonez laced a key double to set up the go-ahead run in a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago White Sox.

And the hold-pat faction -- the one with the better argument, given the number and stature of Tigers whose doldrums simply must snap eventually -- enjoyed its own told-you-so moment.

The annual trade deadline argument is staring down the one franchise that remains the case study for both sides of the win-now, build-for-tomorrow debate. The Tigers' 1987 trade for Doyle Alexander gained them a pitcher who went 9-0 down the stretch and pushed them to a division title. But they sent John Smoltz to Atlanta in return.

Viewed through the prism of that era, it was one of the best pre-deadline trades in baseball history.

Two decades later, with Smoltz destined for the Hall of Fame and still clinging to his big-league dream, perhaps not so much.

The Tigers would love to have another offensive threat when Guillen is penciled in at designated hitter. General manager Dave Dombrowski said as much Friday, while tempering that wish by noting that many of the available players who fit that need also are designated hitters, and that he isn't willing to cut into the club's carefully crafted minor-league depth to pursue them.

It is a delicate balance, to be sure.

Holliday might have fit. But with the Cardinals dealing three youngsters and $1.5 million for a player who will be a free agent after the season, it was an especially bold move by a franchise that frequently gambles on its unique atmosphere and dedicated fan base to keep eligible free agents interested beyond a single stretch run.

The Tigers are growing closer to a similar allure and risk-taking capability. But barely more than a half-decade removed from flirting with the all-time record for losses in a season, they aren't there yet.

They have built an enviable farm system on Dombrowski's watch and are loathe to cut into it for a calculated risk, particularly when their underachieving and unhealthy offensive threats should snap back to form any day.

"I've never liked to give up prospects," Dombrowski said. "I will say we're deeper in the organization than we've been probably since I've been here."

He added that the farm clubs include 10 relief pitchers who "are going to pitch in the big leagues, in our bullpen, within the next year or so -- and be good."

He has little interest in slashing that pitching depth and a big question about whom to trade otherwise, particularly when doing nothing often is the best trade-deadline option.

The Tigers can't trade Joel Zumaya because of the pig-in-a-poke risk no team would want to take with the oft-injured fireballer. They can't deal an $18 million outfielder, Ordonez, because huge salary and a chilly bat doesn't return much, especially when the Tigers still hold hopes that he'll pay off.

And farm-system indifference for a win-now mentality during the mid- to late-1980s contributed to a decade-and-a-half when the Tigers were the most moribund franchise in the game.

How could anyone look at the Tigers, already sitting in first place, and want to go down that road again?